In front of the Arcade...

[americandiplomacy]

Ever since Miho introduced Greg to the arcade at the local mall, he's been there most weekdays after school for at least an hour or two... It ate a lot of money, sure, but it's money he would've spent on point cards for his phone at any rate.

At the moment he was just outside, though, sitting on a little bench near the entrance and fiddling with his phone for some reason or another. The boy was, as usual, paying no attention to his surroundings or anything but himself and the small piece of technology in his hands. The perpetual and unfortunately socially discouraging look of vague annoyance and great boredom was in place on his face, though he was completely free to approach for anyone not bothered by it!

(( Open RP, feel free to either post your own thread or join in one in progress! ))

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[seiyayamada]

Bag in hand, Seiya navigated the mall with ease. Having been discharged from the hospital a few days prior, she was eager for a change of pace. Spotting Greg all by himself, she decided to bug him. It was something about that face that just screamed 'Seiya please bug the shit out of me.'

"G-kun!" Seiya called to him, approaching the bench. Talking over his gaming was simply second nature now. "[What are you cooking, handsome guy!]"

[americandiplomacy]

That was a familiar voice, and it was also one that meant he didn't even have to look away from his phone. Seiya seemed more than used to his ability to 'multi-task' like that without taking too much offense from it, and as a result she only got a glance and then a vague nod of recognition. "Hey. That was, uh... Almost correct. [What's cooking], that's what you need." At least she was trying... Not that he'd ever asked for it, or anything. It was sort of cute, in its own way?

"I'm gonna guess you're not here for the arcade." She didn't seem like the gamer type, but then neither had Miho and she kept schooling him in every fighting game he could find. The arcade seemed more like a thing everyone did once in a while around here, so there was the possibility. "Or maybe you are. Uh... Do you know what [handsome] means..?" It sort of just hit him that she'd gone and called him nice to look at, more or less. Greg wasn't used to that!

[seiyayamada]

Seiya welcomed herself to the seat beside him, resting her bag on her lap. Peering over his shoulder, she kept his personal space in mind. Curiosity sated, she scrunched her nose in disappointment. "[What's cooking.] Got it!"

Watching him play, she raised her brow curiously. "Well not on this trip, but I do come here often." At the second question she simply smiled. "Of course I know what it means!"

[americandiplomacy]

"... Right." A bit cold, as usual. Not receptive, to say the least! Greg shifted in his seat; she'd be able to see from there that he was playing some kind of puzzle game... His fingers were moving pretty quick, sliding pieces this way and that to apparently make a picture. "Mmmhgh." A noise of disappointment and frustration! "Often? Oh... I'm here every day after school, usually. So, uh... We'll probably be seeing more of each other, or something." The boy shrugged with a noise like glass breaking from his phone and then a woman's voice shouting 'TIME UP!'.

He siiighed through his nose and closed out that game. Done with it! It was lame, anyway..! "What're you here for today? Shopping, or..?"

[seiyayamada]

"Oooh so close!" Seiya patted his shoulder, nodding her head with a solemn look. "A true warrior knows the taste of defeat."

Leaning back, she stopped her snooping. Seiya swung her bag with a little shrug, taking in the view around the mall. "Shopping and a little wandering." To be honest, she was scheduled to be working at Yamada Mart, but ditching seemed more appealing. Especially now that there was a hanging out with Greg bonus!

[americandiplomacy]

Greg stood up with another sigh at her remark, then shoved his phone into his pocket. Both hands went into his pockets, actually, and stayed there. At least he wasn't looking at his phone! That let the boy focus on her instead, slightly hunched in his stance and looking as un-enthused as usual. "Well, uh, where's the next stop? In your... Wandering. I've got nothing better to do, uh, that's what I'm saying." He was potentially asking her to do that 'hanging out' thing.

[seiyayamada]

You would think the heavens had opened and bestowed upon her a ticket to the motherland. Seiya jumped up, eyes bright. "Soft pretzels, book store and then we can wrap it up back here at the arcade. It'll be fun!" With that, she was off. Walking backwards, she beckoned him.

[americandiplomacy]

That was... Pretty quick. He'd expected her to at least dilly-dally a bit, exploring usually meant one didn't have a plan! Greg's raised eyebrow did well to show his confusion on the matter, but he started walking once she beckoned regardless. "Uh, sure. You've got your day planned out, huh?" He snorted while they walked, hands still in his pockets, the guy would probably look like a delinquent if not for the snazzy school uniform. "I'm kinda surprised, there's a place just for American food in the food court. I didn't, uh... Really expect to find that here." He had some odd and sort of xenophobic ideas about Japan, it seemed.

[seiyayamada]

"[GOD BLESS AMERICA!]" She laughed, deeming him slow before linking their arms. "I do have a plan! But there's room for detours so don't hesitate to speak up."

Seiya led him along, passing a few beautiful fountains. It had been a while since she'd been shopping with someone other than her father. It felt nice!

[americandiplomacy]

Jeez! Seiya shouted and he winced a bit; that'd probably get them a few weird stares. It was weird enough that he was, like, the only American dude here! "Uh, yeah. I don't really go shopping a lot, so I dunno what most of these stores are..." About all he knew were the bigger worldwide brands, the gaming or technology stores, and then the groceries. It looked like a lot of clothing and fashion stores here, but then that wasn't horribly uncommon for a mall. Greg didn't actually have any clothing from here, minus the school uniform!

Hey, on the plus side, he didn't bitch about her latching onto him. Gregory's hand didn't leave his pocket or anything, so that was probably the best Seiya was going to get at the moment. "Do you, uh..." How to ask this without being rude? "Do you like America, or are you just using English for my sake?" He almost said 'for my amusement', which was more the case.

[seiyayamada]

Seiya happily kept their arms together, not really bothered by his hand in his pocket. In fact, it seemed hardly anything bothered the girl. "I'll be your translator. That one's a clothing store, and that one says "Shoe World'."

As they walked, the scenery opened up into a more media-centric promenade. "Huh? I love America!" Seiya bit her lip. Okay, so maybe she also learned a bit of English on the side to impress him, no big deal.

[americandiplomacy]

Greg hadn't really explored a lot of this mall, so the whole promenade was entirely new to him. He let out a low whistle of apparent appreciation when they arrived. "Oh yeah? ... It's probably different than you think... Uh, I know Japan was a lot different than I expected." Then again, he'd expected what basically amounted to another planet where everything was weird and backwards. Still, there were a lot of mixed messages about almost every other nation over in the States! The same had to be true here in reverse. "It's a lot like here, actually. Maybe a little more chaotic, but that's probably just New York City."

[seiyayamada]

Traffic filtered in and out of each store, yet Seiya was on a mission. She easily navigated around small clusters, keeping Greg close as not to lose him. When they emerged safely on the other side, she gave him a bewildered look. "I watch a lot of American tv. Is it like that?"

Seiya had a lot of time on her hands when she wasn't working. Even when she was, there were endless hours to be wasted.

[calmingwaters]

This was the first time he had been around the arcade. He was still getting used to the town & all it's shops & little areas. Upon walking by he noticed a kid who looked a little out of place amongst all the natives & he arched a curious brow. That must be...

Carefully, Simon approached the other boy. "Excuse me, are you.. G-kun?" he asked tentatively in English.

[americandiplomacy]

Greg glanced up from his phone, blinking a few times while he soaked in the sight of what looked like another American. Obviously not someone from around here, at least. The guy knew his name, too! That was... Odd. He'd been spoken to in English and responded with the same, sounding a bit confused. "I am, yeah. Who're you?"

[calmingwaters]

Oh right he kinda just walked up to the guy questioning who he is without really introducing himself. Good job, smart guy! Simon rubbed his cheek & tossed the concrete a glance, feeling a bit awkward. It's very rare that he would initiate a conversation like this.

"Oh, excuse me," he mumbled, "My name's Simon. I um, I heard about another transfer student from the US from a girl at school so I figured that was you."

[americandiplomacy]

His eyebrows lifted at the prospect of another American to talk to. That was pretty exciting, actually, and not much got a Debbie Downer like Gregory excited. "You're a transfer student, too? I haven't seen you around school, you must be a..." Hmmm. He looked about Greg's age, which made it hard to guess. "Thhhird year?"

[calmingwaters]

Simon was actually a bit of a Debbie Downer himself but he was a little grateful that he would have someone to relate to in a sea of strangers. "Um, yeah. I actually had to skip a few years." He nodded while awkwardly rubbing at his arms. "What about you?"

[americandiplomacy]

A smart kid then, huh? He didn't seem arrogant, much the opposite actually, so that was good. Greg put his phone away for politeness' sake; Simon would probably find it a little rude if he kept right on staring at it while keeping the conversation. "Second year, never skipped anything. My name's Gregory, you probably already know that... Who told you about me? Was it Seiya? Or maybe Miho..."

[calmingwaters]

He actually wouldn't have minded if Greg kept fooling around with his phone. He felt content enough just to be carrying a conversation with someone he just met. "Ah..." For a moment Simon had to ponder about his answer. "Seiya... yeah, Amada."

[americandiplomacy]

"Heh, that figures." That girl was something else. Greg looked Simon up and down for the first time to get a decent look at him. Hmmm... "What part of America are you from?" ... "And..." It'd be weird to ask this question, but he was curious. "What'd... Seiya say about me, exactly?"

[calmingwaters]

"I'm from New York City," Simon answered as he shifted his weight from one side to the other. At Greg's second question he arched a brow. "Um, not much really. She said you were a nice person & that you were from the US as well." Is that the sort of answer he was supposed to give?

[americandiplomacy]

There was no expected answer, thankfully, and the one given seemed to satisfy Greg well enough. "Huh. Well, I'm also from NYC. It's a small world." Simon got a small hint of a smile from the boy, and he leaned back on the bench he was sitting a little more. "Why're you here? Like, what brought you to Japan?"

[calmingwaters]

Simon was leaning from one side to the other absently though he looked a bit more comfortable now. Greg received the same sort of smidge of a smile until he asked about his reason for being in the far east. He really hated talking about it so he tried to keep it short. "Uh..." A finger poked his head a couple of times. "It was suggested I attended this school." Now he had to turn it around before more questions were asked. "How about you?"

[americandiplomacy]

Suggested, huh? That was an odd way to word it, but Greg wasn't about to poke his nose where it didn't belong. Greg shifted in his seat with the question; it was a lot easier for him to answer this one. "My dad moved out here for work. He helps make video games, and the company wanted him across the ocean. Already knew Japanese so he was pretty much a shoe-in."

The boy shrugged and glanced around the slightly busy mall. "It's all right here, I guess. I've only been here a few months... Haven't really explored."